I am posting an old sermon of mine on comfort. I hope this will be an encouragement to those who may need it.
Tribulation
or Comfort
Turn to John 14:16-18
16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come
to you.
Comfort – what does it mean?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, “comfort” means:
1. To
soothe in time of grief or fear, to console.
2. To
ease physically; relieve, as of pain
From the Latin com
(intensive) + fortis (strong) – to be
brave together. What other word does the
“fort” of comfort fit in? Yes,
fortress. The word “fortress” tends to
denote an impenetrable castle in my mind.
Before we get all soft and fuzzy on what the Holy Spirit is to be for us
as our helper, intercessor and consoler, remember this root of comfort, for
this is the manner from which He works.
Going to the Greek, parakletos. Vines defines it this way:
I.
summoned,
called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid
1)
one
who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense,
legal assistant, an advocate
2)
one
who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor
a)
of
Christ in his exaltation at God's right hand, pleading with God the Father for
the pardon of our sins
3)
in
the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Jesus said he was
with us “alway, even unto the end of the world.” But, he in leaving the world bodily, left us
a paracletos. Remember he said “another comforter”, meaning
we now have two. Our new comforter now
embodies us physically.
I Corinthians 6:19, “What? know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
That word “temple” in Greek is naos. This Greek word
denotes the Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, where God dwelled in the temple in
the Old Testament. So, we have Christ with us unto the end of the
world, and the Holy Spirit living within us.
Now turn to II Corinthians 1:3-5:
¶
3. Blessed be God, even
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all
comfort;
4. Who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by
the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
5. For as the sufferings of
Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
The word “comfort” occurs ten times in verses 3-7. The emphasis here is on the constancy of that
comfort. It is not to be “temporary” or
“spasmodic”. This first part of verse
four could just as well read, “who always
comforts us…”
Paul also uses it as “to call to one’s side”. What a picture this is. One of the Holy Spirit’s roles is that of a
constant friend, one who is with us during the good times, and one who is with
us during the bad times. During the bad
times He has an unlimited amount of strength and power from which we can
continually draw from. What a picture!
In verse four we see that specifically we are comforted in
tribulation. How this is done it does
not say, but it does explain why – to comfort others.
Why do we have things happen to us? Sometimes it seems like it is God testing our
sense of humor. Other times testing our
pain limits, other times it makes no sense at all to us. Each of us can point to a time in our lives,
or multiple times, that we to this day do not fully understand the “why” of
something happening. It is probably this
side of heaven we will not understand, but over time some do become clear.
Most of the pain we go through is designed to teach us, open
our eyes. Divorce has allowed me to see
the pain in a divorced person’s fact.
Before I had judged them or avoided them. Now I see clearly.
Here is another example some parents will understand.
Before children – time in a restaurant was unbearable if
someone had a child who would not stop crying.
After children – you appreciate the parent that tries to
keep the kid quiet, and it is not as loud or distracting as it used to be. I can now travel on an airplane and sit by a
parent and small child and still enjoy the ride. No, I am not special, just a veteran of
children.
What we learn is to help others. Think of those around you and those you meet,
get off the focus on your pain and you will be amazed at what God can do.
In verse 5, the word “aboundeth” means “to provide
superabundance.” It is used in Matthew
4:20 to describe the leftover fragments “over and above” what everyone had
eaten. Again God gives us an amazing
picture of consolation overflowing our needs.
As the sufferings as a Christian come in abundance, so does
the comfort to deal with the suffering – in power. The problem, we as “busy” Christians do not
take the time to keep our hearts right before God, thus turning off much of
what we could be afforded. Or, for those
that do not experience suffering, it is because we do not live for Christ. You have to receive wages, and the picture is
similar here.
We have all heard about how Joshua took Jericho, and how
that took faith. I would challenge what
happened quite before. Consider the
priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant, and told to step into the
raging, flooding Jordan river. All of
Jericho was watching them, knowing no enemy had ever made it across the
river. The banks do not roll gently into
the Jordan, they are steep. The priests
were told to step into the river. Now,
do you think the two guys in front were not trying to get to the rear? Whether they did or just thought it, those
who took that first step had true faith.
That faith was rewarded, but the key was they took the step.
Many ask about “why” we have to suffer. Here is the bottom line for you to
ponder: If you have never experienced
God’s comfort in your daily life dealing with your challenges and hurts, how
can you ever pass this experience and coaching on to others who need it? Yes, this suffering qualifies us to the
ministry.
I Peter 4:13
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye
may be glad also with exceeding joy.
